Cricket Australia sets deadline to make decision on SCG Test between Australia and India

Will the SCG Test match go ahead or will it be moved? Cricket Australia has set a deadline to make a decision. Get the latest on where things stand.

Australia celebrates its series win against New Zealand at the SCG in January.

Tim Paine would welcome 100 TV broadcast staff into the biosecurity bubble as Cricket Australia escalates talks with Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in order to save its Test schedule.

Cricket powerbrokers have been so buoyed by New South Wales’ swift response to the COVID-19 outbreak at the Northern Beaches they are confident the MCG will not be required to host back-to-back Tests.

CA has set a Wednesday deadline to decide the fate of the third Test, which starts on January 7 – either locking in the SCG or relocating it to Melbourne in the event NSW loses control of its coronavirus cluster.

But with Queensland shutting the border to NSW it would have to secure travel exemptions for players, support staff and broadcasters to travel from Sydney to Brisbane on January 12 for the fourth Test at the Gabba.

The only way Queensland would grant travel exemptions to enter from NSW would be if every passenger was safely in CA’s bubble.

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Tim Paine prepares for the Boxing Day Test. Picture: Getty

“If that‘s what it takes to get the Sydney Test up and going, then whilst it’s not ideal I think it’s a small sacrifice for everyone to make,” Paine said on Christmas Day.

“I know the boys would certainly be excited to have another few people into the hub to talk to, I think we‘re getting sick of each other.

“So if we get a few more people that we can chat to I think it would be good fun.

“Hub life is not that bad – it‘s not like we’re in jail. It’s still a pretty good way of living. I don’t think any of us complain.

“We‘ve got so many guys from Sydney and NSW, so they love playing in front of their home crowds and having their families around.”

Steve Smith have been confined to hub life for more than 100 days – flying to England in August for Australia’s white-ball tour straight to the Indian Premier League and then into Sydney for the series against India.

NSW recorded just seven new local cases of coronavirus on Christmas Day from almost 70,000 tests.

The plateauing numbers are fuelling hope that they will contain the cluster, which would lock in the third Test at the SCG.

“If things continue on the trajectory they’re on, then it’s full steam ahead for Sydney and then Brisbane,” CA chief executive Nick Hockley said.

While Patrick Cummins and Mitchell Starc are terrorising India’s batsmen on the MCG during the Boxing Day Test, Hockley will be across the road locked in feverish talks with the NSW and Queensland governments.

The Aussies celebrate the Test series win over New Zealand at the SCG after the New Year’s Test in January. Picture: Phil Hillyard

Hockley said he has held “constructive” talks with the Queensland Government although his life would be made a lot easier if premier Palaszczuk reopens her borders before January 12.

The short turnaround between the third and fourth matches has meant a radical plan to stage back-to-back games at the SCG is “highly, highly problematic”, because curators would have little time to prepare another Test pitch.

The NSW Government helped CA kick off the series by allowing India to enter and serve its 14 days of quarantine last month.

The NSW government has not reduced the SCG crowd capacity below 100 per cent and Hockley said “something extraordinary” would have to happen for fans to be locked out of the SCG Test.

SYDNEY WON’T GET BACK-TO-BACK TESTS

Cricket Australia has given Sydney more time to save its Indian Test but has drawn a line through the city’s brazen bid to snatch the Gabba Test as well.

And it is prepared to take the extraordinary – and expensive – step of ushering about 100 TV broadcast staff into its biosecurity bubble to preserve the Border-Gavaskar Trophy schedule.

Powerbrokers are buoyed by Sydney’s plateauing COVID-19 numbers and the swift response from the NSW Government has the SCG Test still pencilled in to go ahead on January 7.

The MCG has officially been placed on standby should the coronavirus outbreak worsen – but on Christmas Eve that contingency plan was fading in the eyes of CA chief executive Nick Hockley.

“If things continue on the trajectory they’re on, then it’s full steam ahead for Sydney and then Brisbane,” Hockley said.

The next major hurdle would be transporting teams, support staff and broadcasters from Sydney to Brisbane after Queensland jammed its border to NSW shut this week.

If Queensland’s border remains locked on January 12 then CA would require travel exemptions to enter the Sunshine State.

The only way Queensland would grant travel exemptions would be if every passenger was safely in CA’s bubble.

While Patrick Cummins and Mitchell Starc are terrorising India’s batsmen on the MCG during the Boxing Day Test, Hockley will be working feverishly from across the road with the NSW and Queensland Governments trying to save the schedule.

Matthew Wade arrives at the Australian team hotel in Melbourne on Thursday. Picture: Josie Hayden

Hockley said he has held “constructive” talks with the Queensland Government although his life would be made a lot easier if premier Annastacia Palaszczuk reopens her borders before January 12.

“There is obviously a chance, and our fingers are crossed, that by the time it comes to move from Sydney to Brisbane the borders would’ve reopened,” Hockley said.

“If the situation worsens in Sydney then one of those options is to stay in Melbourne and then go straight to Brisbane.

“But we’ve been extremely buoyed by the way the NSW Government and the community is handling that outbreak.

“The case numbers and the amount of testing gives us a great deal of confidence.

“We are currently planning all systems go for the New Year’s Test to take place in Sydney as scheduled.

“At the moment the border between NSW and Queensland is closed, so we’re working very constructively with the Queensland government to secure exemptions to move the entire squads, support staff and broadcast crew safely to Brisbane.”

Hockley has set a December 30 deadline – the final day of the Boxing Day blockbuster – to decide whether the January 7 Test should remain at the SCG or relocate to the MCG, which would deliver Melbourne back-to-back Tests just months after it lost the AFL Grand Final to the Gabba.

The short turnaround between the third and fourth matches has meant a radical plan to stage back-to-back games at the SCG is “highly, highly problematic”, because curators would have little time to prepare another Test pitch.

The NSW Government helped CA kick off the series by allowing India to enter and serve its 14 days of quarantine last month.

Despite the Northern Beaches outbreak, the NSW government has not reduced its crowd capacity below 100 per cent.

Hockley said “something extraordinary” would have to change for fans to be locked out of the SCG Test.

Things are looking up for Sydney cricket fans. Picture: Brett Costello

A Cricket Australia statement on Thursday said: “CA has strong biosecurity protocols in place and is working constructively with the Queensland Government to secure the requisite exemptions to enable players, match officials, broadcasters media and staff to move from Sydney to Brisbane should border restrictions remain in place at that time,’’ a CA statement said.

Significantly, the statement also said that should the COVID-19 crisis in NSW render playing in Sydney untenable, CA’s preferred contingency plan was to play back-to-back Tests in Melbourne.

That effectively ends a bid by Sydney to short-circuit border closures by hosting the final two Tests at the SCG.

Hockley said a final decision on the fate of the Sydney Test would be made during the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.

“We have always maintained that scheduling a full summer of cricket during a global pandemic would require agility, problem-solving and teamwork like never before,’’ Hockley said.

“The record testing numbers and the drop in new community transmissions in NSW have provided cause for optimism, however if the situation in Sydney deteriorates, we have strong contingency plans in place.

“We have been working constructively with the Queensland Government and have been encouraged by the positive nature of the discussions.’’

Originally published as Cricket Australia sets deadline to make decision on SCG Test between Australia and India